International
Colombia allows sexual assault victims to denounce alleged attackers online
AFP
Sexual abuse victims in Colombia will be allowed to publish accusations against their alleged attackers on social media following a decision by the country’s top court published on Friday.
The constitutional court deemed that dozens of posts on Facebook and other social media platforms using the hashtag #acosadorsexual (sexual aggressor), posted alongside photos of the alleged perpetrators, can remain in place.
The court ruled that any harm “potentially suffered” by an alleged aggressor due to the publication was “inferior to the harm suffered” by a victim if rendered silent due to fear of being sued over the post.
The ruling came following a complaint by a man who was accused of abuse by his partner.
The young woman said on Facebook that her partner, a university classmate, abused her, taking advantage of the “state of weakness” she was in after consuming “alcohol and other psychoactive substances.”
In the post, the woman said the incident was “very difficult for me and my mental health” and that she took two months to report it out of “fear.”
The post has been shared more than 200 times and liked almost 500 times.
The man denies the accusations and claims their encounter was “consensual.”
Denouncing what he said was an attack on his “honor and reputation,” the man requested the “deletion of the publication in question, the retraction of the information in it and a public apology.”
But the court rejected his complaint and said that “victims of crime have the right to freely and publicly denounce the events they suffered.”
The court added that it considered those claims to be based on “personal experience” and done in “good faith.”
The court said the “condition of a woman who allegedly has been the victim of sexual violence” deserves “special” protection.
The decision overturned a ruling by a lower court in June 2020 that had sided with the man.
In 2020, more than 18,000 people, including almost 15,500 women, turned to Colombia’s medical investigation body over alleged instances of sexual abuse.
International
María Corina Machado kidnapped and forced to record videos before being released, says opposition
The Venezuela Command, the campaign team of opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, denounced the “kidnapping” and subsequent release of political leader María Corina Machado after she led a protest in Caracas on the eve of the Venezuelan presidential inauguration.
In a post on X, the opposition team stated that the former lawmaker was “intercepted and knocked off the motorcycle she was traveling on” after leading a rally in the Chacao area of the Venezuelan capital.
“Gunshots were fired during the incident. She was forcibly detained. During her kidnapping, she was forced to record several videos, and then she was released,” the statement added, which was made public nearly two hours after Machado’s party, Vente Venezuela, reported that she had been “violently intercepted.”
International
Governor Jenniffer González expresses solidarity with Venezuela’s struggling opposition
Puerto Rico’s Governor Jenniffer González expressed her sorrow over Venezuela’s political crisis on Thursday and voiced her support for Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, just one day before President Nicolás Maduro is set to take office following the controversial July elections.
“I think it is sad that the Venezuelan people have to suffer the consequences of a dictator who came to power by deceiving the people. I recognize Edmundo González for his leadership,” the governor stated during a press conference, coinciding with a day of protests by Venezuela’s opposition.
“The Venezuelan community has my full support, and, as we have done in the past, we will maintain that line of communication with whatever we can collaborate on,” assured the Puerto Rican head of government.
González Urrutia is currently in the Dominican Republic, the last announced stop on his American tour, where he was accompanied by Dominican President Luis Abinader and former Latin American presidents from the Spain and Americas Democratic Initiative (Grupo Idea).
International
Hundreds of venezuelan protesters demand ‘democratic change’ in Rome
Dozens of Venezuelans demonstrated in central Rome on Thursday to show their support for opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia and demand a “democratic change,” on the eve of the presidential inauguration that has deeply divided the country.
The protest took place in the Roman square of Largo Argentina and gathered several members of the Venezuelan diaspora and refugees, who sang their national anthem and displayed signs with the slogan “Glory to the brave people.”
Around 150 participants were present, according to one of the coordinators of the protest, Celeste Puerta from the ‘Aiuto Venezuela’ Civic Movement, who spoke to EFE.
Similar actions have been organized in other Italian cities, including Bologna, Florence, and Milan in the north.
-
Central America5 days ago
Honduras arrests former military leaders over 2009 killings
-
International5 days ago
Biden administration approves $8 billion arms sale to Israel ahead of Trump’s Presidency
-
International4 days ago
Machado calls Venezuelans to the streets one day before the presidential investiture
-
International3 days ago
The US ambassador says goodbye to Mexico without regretting “anything” despite bilateral tension
-
International3 days ago
Argentine Jorge Fernández Díaz wins the 81st Nadal Award with ‘El secreto de Marcial’
-
International2 days ago
Thirteen cuban military members missing after explosion at arms warehouse
-
International3 days ago
A military judge sends the Supreme court trial against colonels accused of coup in Brazil
-
International2 days ago
Trump considers declaring National Economic Emergency to justify universal tariffs
-
International2 days ago
Israeli forces recover hostage remains amid ceasefire talks with Hamas
-
International4 days ago
Sheinbaum defends Mexico’s presence in Maduro’s investiture
-
International2 days ago
At least 13 civilians killed in russian missile attack on Zaporizhzhia
-
International4 days ago
Justin Trudeau announces his resignation from the leadership of his party and as Prime Minister of Canada
-
International4 days ago
Boluarte promises to reduce citizen insecurity in Peru this year
-
International4 days ago
Bathing with elephants, the popular Thai tourist activity criticized by animal rights activists
-
International2 days ago
American citizen killed by mexican police officer in Ciudad Juárez shooting
-
International2 days ago
Venezuelan opposition candidate Enrique Márquez detained ahead of Maduro’s inauguration
-
International3 days ago
Donald Trump insists that Canada should be part of the US after Justin Trudeau’s resignation
-
International15 hours ago
Maria Corina Machado calls for nationwide protests ahead of presidential inauguration
-
International3 days ago
The Pentagon reaches an agreement with LGTBIQ veterans discharged for their sexual orientation
-
International3 days ago
Cuba records just under 13,000 earthquakes in 2024, a record year of earthquakes
-
International4 days ago
Three Israelis killed in a Palestinian attack in the northern West Bank
-
International15 hours ago
María Corina Machado kidnapped and forced to record videos before being released, says opposition
-
International4 days ago
The trial against Sarkozy opens for financing his campaign with Gaddafi money
-
International4 days ago
New Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip leave at least 48 dead in the last few hours
-
International4 days ago
Emmanuel Macron accuses Elon Musk of supporting “a reactionary international” in a world in “disorder”
-
International4 days ago
The federal president of Austria commissions the far-right Herbert Kickl to form a government
-
International4 days ago
North Korea launches an intermediate-range missile, its first test in two months
-
International4 days ago
Russia announces the capture of the Ukrainian bastion of Kurákhove in the Donestsk region
-
International15 hours ago
Hundreds of venezuelan protesters demand ‘democratic change’ in Rome
-
International15 hours ago
Governor Jenniffer González expresses solidarity with Venezuela’s struggling opposition